USA - Young Astronaut Medal Program - "America in Space" - 1988 - (3) Medals - Gold, Silver & Bronze Gold Space Shuttle: 8.36 Grams of 90% Gold, Silver Astronaut: 26.7 Grams of 90% Silver, Bronze Space Shuttle: 25 Grams of 90% Copper---Congress approved legislation authorizing the medals; the bill was signed by President Reagan March 12, 1986, becoming Public Law 99-295. The bill authorized production of no more than 750,000 medals bearing emblems and inscriptions deemed appropriate by the Treasury Secretary. The authorizing law specified that 10 percent of the revenue from sales of the medals was to go to the Young Astronaut Council's annual budget. The gold, silver and bronze medals feature different obverse designs; they share a common reverse. The medals' obverse designs were chosen from more than 17,000 entries submitted by YAC student members from all over the country. The bronze medal was designed by Erac Priester, then 15, of St. Augustine, Fla. It features a space shuttle, an American flag and six stars. It was sculptured by Edgar Z. Steever of the Mint engraving staff. The silver medal was designed by Essan Ni, then 11, of San Diego. The medal, sculptured by Mint engraver James Lecaretz, features an astronaut saluting the U.S. flag on the surface of the moon. The gold medal was designed by Brian Kachel, then 12, of Jersey City, N.J. It features a space shuttle in flight. The design was sculptured by Mint sculptor-engraver Chester Y. Martin. All of the obverse designs incorporate the inscriptions LIBERTY and the year 1988.